Swingin Door11018 Van Owen St
North Hollywood
818-763-8996
If this looks familiar, it should; this used to be Swinging Door BBQ. Swinging Door closed down in the summer of 2008 and reopened as Swingin Door, in 2009. It is the same location and smoker, the differences are; the lack of G at the end, a new owner, and sadly the BBQ isn't up to Swinging Door.
A good addition to their menu is, spare ribs. Spare ribs can be so much better than baby back ribs. I go the regular plate combo, 1 meat, spare ribs and one side, mac and cheese. The spare ribs are St. Louis style ribs, not rib tips, but they lacked flavor and taste. While the bones were big, there wasn't much meat on them either. What meat was on the ribs were too mushy. Either they were oversmoked or the quality of the meats isn't up to par. There was a hint of smoke flavor but this lacked a bark and seasoning. The BBQ sauce was bland too.
The mac and cheese was also bland. Somebody at the table said "The mac and cheese is all butter." and it really was. This was creamy but didn't have much of a cheesy flavor.
I wanted to try their championship ribs, so I got half a rack, $13.99. Championship ribs need to be ordered a day in advance. The championship ribs are "wet" baby back ribs. They are basted in a pretty bland sauce. Again this had a hint of smoke flavor but they lacked a real bark and any seasoning. So bland. There was more meat on the ribs and since they are baby backs, very tender. But overall very average.
Service was very good. They are nice people and very helpful.
I was sad to find out that Swinging Door had closed. I was happy to find that Swingin Door had opened but disappointed in the quality of the BBQ. I wouldn't go back.
